Tag: confusion

• August 20, 2012

  The Art of Inquiry: Patience, courage, and openness

  Excerpt from The Art of Inquiry. In this section of the book, I consider the importance of the virtues for living through a time of unclarity. * Patience Let’s recall that we are confused not about something insignificant but rather about what matters most to us. We were once hubristic, believing that we knew what…
• August 16, 2012

  The Art of Inquiry, Chapter 2: Confusion

  Excerpt from The Art of Inquiry, Chapter 2. Please enjoy. * 2. Confusion 2.1. Preliminary Definition Rather than respond to Meno’s challenge head-on, Socrates shows him that and how a slave-boy can inquire. Afterward, Meno and Socrates put aside the search for a definition of virtue and resume their inquiry into the question of whether virtue…
• August 15, 2012

  Art of Inquiry: Interlude–Meno’s Paradox of Inquiry

  Excerpt from The Art of Inquiry. Interlude comes after Chapter 1 and before Chapter 2. Enjoy. * Interlude: Meno’s Paradox of Inquiry Is Meno fed up with Socrates? Could he be throwing up his hands when he accuses Socrates–earnestly or in jest–of being a ‘magician,’ of casting spells and bewitching and enchanting him? Or, likening Socrates…
• August 1, 2012

  Confronting our thinking in general

  I want to say that the focus of my life is on teaching the art of inquiry. Yesterday, I said that one of the aims of a good inquiry is to disabuse us of our ignorance. To be humbled in this manner is to enter into a time of exceptional confusion. Can anything interesting be said of…